Jane
by WeaponXI
Summary: A tale about what happens after Season 1. Story covers Eleven's fate after she defeated the Demogorgon, Mike and Co. make a new friend, El rejoins society, and Will struggles with multiple conflicts internally and externally, plus a new threat to Hawkins that is emerging. Part One is 3 chapters long. Part Two consists of another 3.
1. The Deal

**A/N: Hey everyone. This is my very first Fanfiction so I can't guarantee it will even be decent. But I decided to try it out, and what better story to write about than the best Netflix series a month before its second season premieres. This is ultimately focused on Eleven, but will explore different characters along the way.**

It would be only four hours before she reappeared, in the Upside Down. Awoke, and shaken from what had happened very recently, she laid there in front of the chalk board. She warily got up and turned to face the classroom.

"Mike?" she whispered.

There was no response. She left and walked down a hallway, at the end of it was a beaming red light. Unable to make out what it was, this was her only means of direction, in a most obscure situation. Approaching closer to the light she discovered it to be a large hole in the wall, a hole surrounded in the gooey webbing this dark place often contained.

El reached through and was back in Hawkins Middle, in the real world. When she walked out the front entrance, several men in black and white suits approached her. For defensive instincts, she began to focus and use her power against them, before another suit came behind her. El was met with a sedative. Lights out.

 **An hour later**

"Eleven?" a man in front of her said.

El woke up dazed and saw everything in a blur. But she could make out the general features of her surroundings.

She was in a medium-sized room, with four men dressed in police uniform standing guard in all four corners. The only furnishing being a rectangular metal table and three metal chairs. El was sitting in one of them on one side and on the other, a man dressed in a white dress shirt and black tie, and sitting alongside him, someone that made her widen her eyes. The other man was Chief Jim Hopper, the Chief Police of Hawkins who, as far as she knew, did everything in the best interest of her and her friends.

"Why is he here?" she thought to herself. "Why is he here with these bad men?"

Suddenly a wealth of questions flew through El's head: "Is Hopper in on it?" "Is he the leader of MKUltra?" "Why did he help Mike and Will if he's with these evil people?"

"Eleven?" White Shirt said again. "That is your name, isn't it?"

"Um…yes." El said quietly, gazing over at Hopper nervously, who was staring as her halfheartedly. His arms folded.

"Eleven, my name is Dr. Owens. It appears to me that you've had quite the adventure this past week. You escaped. You saw what it's like outside this facility. You ate some new food. And I understand you even made some new…friends…is that correct?"

Skimming through a file, Owens closed it after uttering the last word of his narrative. Then looked to El with tired eyes.

"Yes." she replied, returning her focus to Owens. Still scared and unsure of just what was going on.

"And it's to my understanding that you've already met this gentleman sitting next to me?" Doc gestured to the chief.

"Yes." she replied.

"Okay, Eleven, I want to make something very clear: No one here wants to hurt you, not him, not me, not anyone in this room or this building. But we do want to find a way to pretend none of this ever happened. So, I have a proposition."

"Pro..po..zish?" another foreign word. Just like _mouthbreather_ and _knucklehead_.

Owens continued, "Do you like it outside Eleven? Out there in the real world?"

El nodded furiously.

"Well then, what if I told you that you can go outside, and live there from now on?"

"I would like that very much." she replied.

"I'm willing to let you go from this place, and live out there for the rest of your life. But there will be some…conditions."

"Condi.."

Cutting her off before she could sound out another hard word, "I want Chief Hopper here to take care of you. Well…more like look after. You won't see the boys, not for a while. What we're going to do is, we're going to build a nice home for you, and only you, in the forest, where you'll be away from society's eye and won't draw attention." An enthusiastic Owens said, leaning forward as if he was on the verge of closing in on an important business deal.

"Wh..why can't I see my friends?" El said despondently.

Hopper finally interjected, "Eleven, other people have seen you and know what you can do. They aren't the boys and they'll tell the whole world. It won't be good for you or your friends."

The room fell silent and El looked down at the table. Owens fidgeted his fingers and was blankly staring at his unsteady hands.

Hop added, "Right now the best thing to do is to wait a while. Enough time needs to pass so we can all forget this ever happened. Then, maybe one day you can see the boys again, we'll find a way to bring you back into the world."

El was unresponsive for about a minute before finally saying, "Okay."

Owens clapped his hands together, "Fantastic!"

Hopper stared straight ahead, seemingly annoyed with the doctor's amusement.

 **One week later**

Standing beside Owens, a young man in a suit looked forward, watching several Department of Energy workers load supplies into the back of a company van.

"You sure about this?" Suit Guy said.

"What other option is there, Henry?" replied Owens. "She has grown much too powerful, we can't contain her anymore."

"Well we could've just gotten rid of her."

"Are you suggesting I kill and dispose a child like some obsolete mechanism in an assembly line?"

"Brenner did it with the others."

"Well Brenner was a psychopath who had no idea what he was doing. We don't kill children. Not even ones used as experiments."

"I just don't think it's a good idea to let a weapon out in the wild."

"That's just it, Henry. That's exactly why we're letting her go. She's built bonds, and has feelings, and emotion. She was no different than the others. A weapon with compassion, a weapon that can't perform its sole function is useless. I mean for Christ's sake, she couldn't even kill a cat."

Owens continued, "Besides, Ten is the one we have to worry about."

Henry smiled and nodded at Owens' remark.

El walked out of the facility with Hopper. She was dressed in brown leather boots, black jeans, a denim jacket with fur, and sported a brown beanie over her head, which had hair a little longer than when Mike first found her. She was carrying a black backpack and holding a small duffel bag in her left hand. A worker came by and aggressively took her belongings, loading them onto a van. Hopper looked unsettled by this but quickly took his focus to Henry, who handed him a clipboard of papers.

"Just need you to sign a few more things." Henry said.

"Sure." replied Hopper.

After Hopper signed the last of it, he turned to El and gave her a big hug.

"It's only for a little while, kid. You'll see your friends again. I promise. In the meantime, I'll take care of you. I'll see you once a week, maybe more. I'll bring you food and anything else you need. I also talked with Dr. Owens and he said we can sometimes go places if you ever get bored, ok?"

"Okay." replied El, who seemed neither pleased or upset by what the chief said.

A worker helped El into the back of a van, with the supplies in a different vehicle.

Hopper gave one last wave as the two cars drove off. He stared off with regret.


	2. Halloween

**On a Sunday night**

"A thirteen!" exclaimed Lucas.

The whole group cheered, "Yes!"

"Leoroar Swordhand fireballs the Swampbeast of Lakeside!" Mike yells. "It takes one last breath to utter its last words to the noble fighter."

The party's Dungeon Master gets in character and ominously says: "I should never have underestimated you, human, now I can no longer haunt the village beside this lake."

"The beast bellows in agony, before turning to ashes and sinking to the bottom of the lake, and will never again haunt the village of Goldcrest." Mike concludes.

"Awesome!" said Dustin.

"Yeah, that was a great campaign." said Will

The basement door opens and a voice yells down, "Mike! It's 10:00pm! Time for your friends to get some sleep! You all have school tomorrow." Mrs. Wheeler persisted.

"Alright!" Mike shouted back. "Yeah guys it's actually getting pretty late."

"Hey, Halloween is Wednesday. We all have our Ghostbusters outfits ready?" Dustin asked.

"Yup!" said Lucas.

"Heck yeah!" said Will.

"You actually have to ask?" said Mike.

"I still can't get over how good that movie was." said Lucas

"I know! Sigourney Weaver is probably my cinema crush now." said Dustin

"You always have a cinema crush Dustin! Last winter, we could never get you to shut up about Lori Singer." said Mike

"Okay but now it's Sigourney. She's drop-dead gorgeous." replied Dustin.

"Christ." said Mike.

Lucas put on his backpack, "Alright well, I guess we're heading home now. See you tomorrow, Mike."

"See ya!" Will and Dustin said simultaneously.

As the boys walked up the stairs, Mike turned from the gameboard and glanced at the spot his old friend had made a bed out of. The table, the bed sheet, the pillows, all still there. "Why the hell haven't I taken this apart yet?" he wondered. The spot was empty, but he still had his reasons of keeping it together. He did not feel like he had lost her. Every day, since that fateful day she disappeared, Mike could feel her with him. He could feel as if their minds were psychologically linked. No matter where Eleven was, no matter how far she had gone, whether it was in this world or the other, he knew she was alive. He had to find her.

 **Halloween Day**

"Hello gents!" Dustin shouted.

The two boys turned from their argument about a fictitious comic battle between Batman and Iron Man and turned their heads, all raising them at their friend, who was parking his bicycle. Dustin ran over to his circle of camaraderie.

"We look amazing!" said Lucas

"Yeah we do!" said Mike.

"Hey losers!" Troy walked up to the party, only to do what he does best at such events.

"What do you want Troy?" said Mike

"Nothing really, I'm just wondering why we need exterminators at this school, have you seen any rats or roaches lately?"

"You mean besides yourself?" Mike countered.

"What the fuck did you say?" tensions rising as Troy's only entourage stepped forward.

"Easy James." Troy stuck out a hand to stop his much bigger friend. James had grown significantly over the past year since the last time the duo got physical with Mike and his friends. He was 5'8" at the quarry incident a year ago. Now he was a solid 6'. A pre-high-school-freshman the size of the average professional football player. It was safe to say he was one of the biggest middle schoolers in Hawkins. As smart as Mike and his friends were, brains didn't stand a chance at fighting a colossus that outweighed you and your friends put together.

James stood down and his friend added, "But seriously guys, do you see anyone else wearing a costume? You're in the 8th grade for fucks sake. Have some dignity."

"At least we didn't pee ourselves in front of the whole school." replied Lucas.

Troy's face freezes. He slowly turns his gaze from Mike to Lucas, his eyes with a stare so hateful you could practically feel it. He steps closer to Lucas, "What did you say, Midnight?"

"Did I stutter?"

"That only happened because your weirdo friend was with you guys." Troy snapped.

"She had you pretty bad." Dustin snickered.

"So? She's dead, right? Your weirdo friend is fucking dead. So, who gives a shit what she did huh?"

A pause between the two parties, then proceeded the longest ten seconds of the history of the universe.

"Don't say that." Mike finally said.

"Your weirdo friend is dead." Troy said again.

"I said don't fucking say that!" Mike charged at Troy.

While just inches away from making tangible contact, Mike's friends pulled him back just in time.

"No, Mike. Not here." Caleb implored.

"Not here, man." Dustin pleaded.

Mike, who's face grew red as an apple. Pure hate that could only be restrained with him tearing Troy into shreds. A tear slides down his left cheek.

Troy noticed this immediately and began to ridicule Mike, "Awww. Is wittle Fwogface gonna cwwaaiiiiii?"

James joined in, "Does the pwincess need a bandaiddd?"

Suddenly, the churlish smiles of the bullies faded. Their faces now emotionless. Troy then turned to James, James to Troy. Both boys proceeded to pull their pants down. With their underwear now apparent to practically all who attended Hawkins Middle, the pair began to wrestle each other. Much to the amusement of the student body.

"Oh my god." Dustin said in disbelief.

Lucas said nothing but covered his mouth as he was laughing uncontrollably.

Mike, wiping away his tears, began to giggle, "That's hilarious."

Lucas let out a huge laugh and asked, "What the hell are they doing?"

After tussling for about two minutes, the bullies finally woke up from their "trance" and immediately scrambled to pull their pants back on.

"Nice one, ladies!" a boy shouted.

"Get a room would ya, fellas?" another said.

As the school entrance rumbled with laughter, claps, and woos, the staff began to clear out the yard.

"Alright kids whatever this is, it has to stop now! Get to class all of you. Right now!" Mr. Clarke commanded

"What the fuck just happened?" James asked.

Troy did not answer his friend but turned to look at Mike, who was smiling at the two pantsed fools. Troy grimaced.

"Aw man that was hilarious!" said Lucas.

"Yeah, it was." Mike added.

"Yeah guys. Hey, where's Will? He missed out on some funny stuff."

"I'm right here." Will said from behind Dustin

"Oh! Hey bud! You wouldn't believe what just happened!" Dustin said excitedly.

"I know, man. I saw it all. It was funny."

"Hey why aren't you in your costume?" Mike asked.

"Oh um, I just sort of…well I forgot it. Sorry guys."

"Hey, it's fine man. Wear it tonight though ok?" Dustin said.

"Sure, of course."

The three costumed boys smiled and walked into the school, still tittering about what just happened to their bullies.

Will then looked to the duo. As they slowly got up, his eyebrows frowned and Troy's right leg flew into the air. He landed on his back.

Will gave a subtle smile, before walking into the school to join his friends.

 **Halloween Night**

Inside the Wheeler house living room, the four boys got ready. Putting on their homemade proton packs and janitor coveralls.

"Alright, let's do this!" Lucas declared.

"Kids! Make sure you come back before eleven! Remember, it's still a school night!" Mike's mom yelled as the quartet began their voyage to the nearest house of pharmacy-bought decorations.

Mike stopped everything he was doing.

The other three Ghostbusters looked to their friend and immediately knew what was happening.

"Shit." Dustin said.

"Hey, buddy. It's ok." Lucas said.

"She just meant the time, Mike." Will said.

"Yeah. Of course." Mike carried on.

The group journeyed on.

 **Later that night**

"Man, we got so much this year." Dustin said.

"Yeah, how many houses was that?" Lucas asked.

"About forty, I think." Mike answered.

"This has been the best Halloween ever! I mean honestly, Ghostbusters and a year's supply of candy? It really doesn't get better than this." Dustin said.

"Yeah, this was awesome guys." Will added.

The group walked down the street.

"Hey, next year we'll be in high school. Want to do something different?" Mike asked.

"Like what?" Dustin asked.

"Well, maybe like those haunted house things. Those are very popular nowadays. Plus, again, we'll be in high school. We're supposed to be doing more mature things."

"Mike, we're 13, nothing about us is mature." Dustin retorted.

"Yeah, but still. I asked Nancy about it; she told me that high school students don't go trick 'o treating, not even the freshman."

Will pondered what Mike was saying and spoke, "I guess I'm open to anything."

Mike said. "And maybe, maybe we could bring dates with us."

The group stopped walking.

"Dates? Are you insane?" Dustin said.

"Mike, have you forgotten who we are?" Lucas queried.

"Yeah but, I just thought these haunted houses would be even more fun if we each brought a girl with us. You know, I mean you know it's like those horror movies. No one goes alone or just goes with guys, they go with dates."

"Well, if Will can be open minded to it, then I guess so can I." Dustin finally said.

Lucas concurred, "Yeah same here."

"Alright then. Well, thanks guys. I appreciate you all being on board with it."

"But that's next year, right now we still got to clear out some houses." Dustin informed.

Everyone in agreement.


	3. You're Back

It is the Thursday morning after Halloween. Chief Jim Hopper is driving on a road nearing the border between Hawkins and the next town over. He pulls over to the side, near a forest. With him he's carrying a grocery bag; inside it are some standard toiletries, three small boxes of cereal, a half gallon of milk, a small bag of leftover Halloween candy, some books, and a box of eggos.

Hopper walked thirty feet into the woods, following all the subtle signs he had grown accustomed to over the past year, which led to a wooden box on the forest floor. He put all the smaller items in the contraption and left the milk and toiletries in the bag on the side. Hopper closed the box and began to walk back to his car. Having walked just ten feet, a rustle is heard from behind.

"Wait." El said.

Hopper paused.

"Kid, just take the stuff. Go back to the house."

"Stay."

"You know I can't."

"Please."

Hopper thought about this. He had been watching over this kid for about a year now, dropping over various human luxuries and necessities one to three times a week. He had had very few conversations with her, as Dr. Owens instructed him not to.

"We're not even supposed to be talking. You realize that right?"

"Just stay. We haven't talked in a while. I need inter..ack..shun."

Hopper gave a slight chuckle.

"Looks like those books are really working huh?"

"I'm smart, Hopper. Just can't find the words sometimes."

Hopper took a long sigh before finally turning around and asking, "So what do you want to talk about?"

 **At the house**

The two walked about twenty yards before finally ending up at the house. It was camouflage, with an exterior completely covered in mirrors. The reflective home was able to capture the natural habitat surrounding it, thus making it blend in with the setting. A truly remarkable architectural design by the government, who, when spent enough time, money, and people, could pretty much do anything. It was virtually invisible from the human eye when seen from as little as ten feet away. One would have better odds at winning the lottery than spotting this house-equivalent of a chameleon. But with El having lived there for a year and her telepathic ability to find people and objects, she can pretty much locate it from a hundred miles away.

The duo walked in. It was a humble little household. Upon walking right through the entrance, you were in the living room, a television with its own stand installed with a cable box and VCR to the left, a coffee table in front of it, and a sofa-bed. The kitchen and bathroom were to the right. Kitchen had all the appliances: refrigerator, stove, oven, dishwasher, microwave, trash compactor, and even a coffee making machine. The bathroom, while tiny, was extremely sanitary and absolute; it had a toilet, a sink, and a bathtub shower combo. Facing the front of the television, the storage room was to the right of it.

"Sit." El said. She headed for the kitchen, setting the new supplies on the counter and proceeding to make Hopper a cup of coffee.

"I'm really not supposed to be here."

"You can stay a little longer." El kept making the coffee, not making eye contact with the chief.

"I can't. I should actually be leaving."

"No, just stay."

Hopper began to get off the couch, "No, really, I should go."

"I said stay!" El turned to Hopper and sat the 6'3", 280 pound man on his ass.

"Jesus! Fine, I'll stay!"

El broke down, "I'm sorry Hopper. I'm so sorry."

Hopper looked at her sympathetically. He walked over to the kitchen and the two embraced each other. El rested her head against Hopper's chest.

El sobbed, "I don't want to be here anymore, Hop. I want to go back. I want to see my friends again."

"I know kid, I know." Hopper said woefully.

As the two continued to hug each other, the scene pans out into camera footage, being watched in the lab of Hawkins' Department of Energy. The emotional scene catches the attention of a dozen men in suits, lab coats, and several military personal in dress blues.

"This is bad, Owens." a military man said.

"Things are going to be fine, Colonel."

"I am looking at an unstable child capable of breaking bones, making a dozen people bleed internally, and vaporizing an interdimensional monster, all with just a thought. And you want me to be fucking calm?!"

"Colonel, this is all just standard procedure. We can't have experiments running around hurting people." Henry said.

"Then why the hell couldn't you just dispose of the damn thing?" the colonel asked.

"Sir you just listed the things she's capable of and you're asking why we couldn't kill her? Why couldn't we kill her with our mediocre guns and knives?" Owens said.

"Sneak attack?" suggested an Army major.

"Like the rest of us, her brain is most active at night. With her powers, her precognitive senses are most enhanced when unconscious. You'd be launched across the room if you snuck up on her sleeping with the intent to cause harm." Owens said.

"Alright forget it, MKUltra is supposed to create soldiers to ensure national security. Since this kid just wants to be with her friends, I suggest we give that to her. Let her rejoin society, let her be a regular kid. Give the thing what she wants. If we can't contain it, we need to compromise with it." The colonel demanded.

"Sir, I'm not sure that's a great..."

Owens jumped in, "It's ok, Henry, the man's right. Let's give Eleven what she wants. It's been a while since the events of last year. There's no point keeping her in isolation for that long, she barely looks anything like she did last fall anyway. She plays her cards right, she won't draw any attention."

The colonel seemed pleased with what the doctor said.

"Okay, it's settled then." The colonel said. "Give her an identity: Birth certificate, social security number, a passport, everything."

 **At the middle school**

Dustin and Lucas were sitting in Mr. Clarke's science classroom and arguing about a fictitious comic battle. It was between Wolverine and Black Panther.

"Adamantium can't penetrate vibranium! You're insane!" Lucas argued.

"Do you hear yourself? Wolverine's skeleton is coated with the strongest metal on earth. It's unbreakable!" Dustin retorted.

"Do you even know why it's called vibranium? It absorbs vibrations." Lucas replied.

Before they could continue their argument about which fictional metal was stronger, a redheaded girl walked in and passed the two Marvel fanatics. They both turned their heads in awe. Redhead sat in the back-left corner of the room. Arms-crossed, she did not seem pleased to be there.

Clarke began, "Alright class, I hope you all had a great Halloween. Now before we get started, I'd like you all to meet a new student in the class."

The whole class turned their heads in unison to glance at the "new kid".

"Why don't you introduce yourself, young lady? Tell us your name, where you're from, and an interesting fact about yourself."

Redhead finally speaks, "Hi, I'm Max, I'm from California, and I skate."

"Well it's very nice to meet you, Max." Clarke said.

Lucas and Dustin kept staring at Max before she met their gaze. They immediately turned around.

 **After school**

The last bell rang and the students were scrambling out the front entrance. As some began walking home, riding their bikes, walking over to their parents' car, one youth in particular was riding a skateboard home. Max had on her helmet and was riding away.

The three boys conversed as they approached their bikes.

"Wow, Cali. So that's what they look like huh?" Dustin said.

"Man, I have to move out West." Lucas said.

"She's pretty badass too, not a lot of girls around here skate." Dustin said

"Not many are named Max either." Mike added.

"I think everything about her is cool so far." Lucas said.

 **Later in the day**

Dustin stood in front of a mirror in the basement bathroom as Mike and Lucas were on the couch watching a movie.

The curly-haired boy stared at himself, and practiced some lines. "Hi, my name's Dustin, how are you?" "No, that's stupid." "Hi my name's Dustin, welcome to Hawkins!" "No, dumb." "Hi my name's Dustin, do you like DnD?" "Christ, that sounds weird."

Dustin sighed and exited the bathroom.

Mike and Lucas sat on the couch, watching the 1982 classic, _Blade Runner_. Bowls of snacks sat on the table.

Mike stuffed his mouth with popcorn, "Man, Harrison Ford is the greatest actor of all time. I hope he gets an Oscar one day."

"Same here." Lucas agreed with a mouth full of popcorn.

Dustin stood in front of the TV, "Hey guys, so I think I want to ask out the new girl."

Lucas choked on his food.

"Go for it, man." Mike approved.

"No, don't go for it." Lucas said.

Dustin seemed perplexed, "I'm sorry?"

"I mean maybe…maybe I wanted to ask her out." Lucas said.

Mike tiredly groaned, "Aw man."

"What?!" Dustin said.

"This isn't good." Mike quietly uttered.

"I said I wanted to ask her out!"

"Didn't you like Jennifer?" Lucas said.

"She hooked up with Greg McCorkle. I think they're pretty much a thing now." Dustin said.

"Greg hooks up with everyone though." Mike added

"Look! The point is, I said it first so I get to ask her out before anyone in this room."

Lucas put on his backpack and headed up the stairs before finally ending the argument, "You know what? Good luck with that."

"Lucas don't you wanna finish the movie?" Mike asked.

"No thanks." He said without turning his head and continued to walk.

 **The next day**

On a Friday morning, El wakes up in a room she's completely unfamiliar with. She's wearing sweatpants, a gray and red Adidas v-neck with a pajama shirt underneath. She scouts the area, confused. "Where am I?" she thought to herself. Then, suddenly, she hears a familiar voice from behind.

"Morning." Hopper casually says as he walked from his room to the kitchen.

"Whe..where am I?" El replied.

"You like it? It's my new house, well our new house. Nothing too fancy, but there are three bedrooms and two bathrooms so it's nicer than that trailer I called a home."

The chief was making an Eggo and bacon breakfast. He grabbed a warm cup from the counter and handed it to El.

"Here, drink this."

"What is it?"

"It's hot chocolate."

El thought back to the last time she heard about chocolate. All she could think about was Dustin yelling to her and Mike in the school gym. She remembered how Mike described pudding to her for the first time.

She looked disgusted, "Um…no..no thank you."

"You sure? Have you ever tried it?"

"No."

"I think you'd really like it."

"Is it like pudding?"

"Well there's chocolate in pudding, but this isn't that."

Eleven looked at the cup, contemplating.

"Okay, I'll try it."

"Here."

Hopper watched as the kid essentially chugged the whole thing.

He restrained a smile, "Sooo what do you think?"

El finished the last of it and smiled, her upper lip covered in the liquid.

"Alright then."

El wiped her mouth and spoke, "Why am I here?"

"You're here because the guys in charge wanted you here."

El stared blankly at Hopper.

"El, I'm your dad now."

"What?"

"The guys back at the lab figured this would be the best way to go about doing things."

"But why are you my dad?"

"It's a story they've fabricated, and on paper, you really are my daughter, because I've adopted you."

"Oh." El looked perplexed.

"Yeah. So that's the story as of now. I'm gonna go to work now and…"

El rushed to Hopper and hugged him tighter than she's ever hugged anyone before. Hopper, while stunned, knew what this meant for her. He embraced her, but as he did so, memories of his late Sarah began rushing through his mind. As painful as it was for him, he did not want to ruin the moment for El and kept his arms wrapped around her.

After about thirty seconds, the two finally separated and Hopper wiped his tears away.

"Why are you crying?" El asked.

"Oh, it's nothing. It's just dust in my eyes I think."

"Okay."

Hopper took a quick breath, exhaled and said, "Yeah so I have to go to work right now. Your room's right in there. There's a bed and a desk, closet. Showers in there, maybe not as fancy as your little mirror house but it's clean, has everything you need. Refrigerator is fully stocked with food, Eggos are in the freezer. There's a TV if you want to watch anything. Only has a few channels though. But I'll put it up with the cable company later."

"Okay.", El said with a smile.

"Also, you start school on Monday."

"School?"

"Yeah, it's where you go to learn things and..."

"I know what school is, but with Mike?"

"Yeah, there's only one middle school in Hawkins. You'd be going to school with your friends again and you can hang out with them and everything."

El gave a relieving smile, "That's good."

"Okay then." Hopper headed for the door and turned, "Oh and by the way, your name's Ellie now."

"Ellie?"

"Ellie. Just roll with it."

"Okay."

"Okay. See you after work, Ellie."

"See you later, Dad."

Hopper paused, smiled, and closed the door behind him.

 **At school**

Mike and Dustin stood at their lockers.

"Alright, you ready bud?" Mike asked Dustin.

"I'll be right here."

Max was putting her helmet in her locker when Dustin approached.

"Hi!" He said.

"Hey."

"My name's Dustin, I think you're in my science class."

"Yeah, you and the other kid were looking at me."

"Yeah, that was me!"

Max retrieved some books from her locker as he kept trying.

"Hey, so I was wondering, since you're new here, maybe we could hangout sometime. I could show you around Hawkins."

"So you're inviting me to hangout with you?"

"Absolutely."

"So you want to be friends?"

"Well umm…not exactly."

"I mean you said we should hangout, so you want us to be friends right?"

"Um..."

"Great! I don't know anyone around here. I could use some friends."

Lucas walked up to Mike, who was standing at his locker, watching Dustin's tribulation unfold.

"What's happening?" Lucas asked.

"Dustin asked her out."

"And?"

"Friendzoned."

Lucas punched the locker, "Hah, sucker."

"Your turn." Mike said.

"Watch and learn Wheeler, watch and learn."

Lucas gave a suave walk as he crossed the hallway diagonally passed Lucas and said, "Hah, tough luck, Henderson."

Max closed her locker and made eye contact with Lucas.

"Oh hey! You're Dustin's friend right?"

"I am." Lucas said confidently.

"Great, well any friend of Dustin is a friend of mine, let's hang out this weekend then, all of us."

Lucas's grin disappeared. "Fuck this." He thought to himself.

"Is he also your friend?" Max pointed to Mike.

Lucas turned to the other reject and Mike and strenuously said, "Yeah he is."

"Great. Introduce us." Max said optimistically.

Lucas didn't get a good vibe from this but did so anyway.

"Mike, this is Max. Max, this is Mike."

"Nice to meet you." Max said as she reached her hand out for a shake.

Mike shook her hand and replied, "You too."

"So now that we've met why don't we do something this weekend?" Max said.

"Um sure, how about the arcade?" Mike suggested.

"Cool! What's your favorite game?" She asked.

"Right now our favorite is Dragon's Lair. We've been trying to beat that game for months now. It's super hard." Mike said.

"Great. I guess we're hanging out tomorrow then." Max said.

"Works for me." Mike said.

"Yeah." Lucas said.

"Sure." Dustin said.

"Great, see you guys later!" Max said before heading to class.

Mike turned to his two companions and said, "Well you gave it a shot."

 **Saturday night**

On a Saturday night at the arcade, the boys were ready to play Dragon's Lair. Mike went up first to give Max a short tutorial. He died by drinking the poisonous potion, Lucas fell to his death, and Dustin died at the hands of Singe the Dragon. Max was the last one to go.

The group was in awe at how far a newcomer had advanced in what was considered the most difficult arcade game of 1984. Nothing could contain the excitement of the group as she reached the last level.

"Go go go go go!" Dustin yelled

"Grab the sword! Grab the word!" Lucas directed.

"Dodge the fire!" Mike said.

"Look out for the tail!" Dustin cautioned.

Max dodged a few more attacks before finally grabbing the sword and throwing it at Singe's chest, piercing the dragon, killing it.

The group cheered.

Exiting the arcade, the crew made one final chat as they walked to their transportation.

"Aw man, that was awesome!" Dustin said.

"Yeah, great job Max!" Mike said.

"Thanks. I went to the arcade a lot with my brother when I was younger. He used to play them all the time when he was in middle school. Now, that's not the case."

"You have a brother?" Lucas asked

"Yeah, he's a senior at Hawkins High. His name's Billy. Though I don't think he'll be graduating anytime soon. He spends a lot of time smoking and drinking, fucking around with other delinquents. I doubt he even went to class this week."

"I've heard of him. My sister just became friends with him I think. They were all at a party together last night. But I'm sorry to hear about that." Mike lamented.

"It's cool. I guess somewhere along the way he became this rebel and just didn't care anymore."

"Well I'm sure he'll snap out of it. He still has his whole life ahead of him." Mike said

"Yeah I just hope he does that before it's too late."

The whole group stood there in silence for several seconds before finally getting on their vehicles.

"I'll see you around Max." Mike finally said.

"See you around Mike. Later Lucas, later Dustin."

Dustin and Lucas both waved their hands at the new member of their team before they all went their separate ways.

 **On their bikes**

"Hey, you guys hear anything from Will yet?" Lucas asked the other two.

"Yeah, he's not well. He's been going to a therapist." Mike said.

"Not well is putting it lightly, have you been to his house lately?" Dustin asked.

"No, what's up?" Mike asked.

"He's been drawing these pictures."

"We're gonna need more than that, Dustin." Lucas said.

"He's been drawing these pictures of a large monster. Like…almost like the Demogorgon…but..a lot bigger, and more arms. Actually, it's more like a giant octopus."

Mike shook his head in disappointment. "Things haven't changed since last year guys. We need to go over to his place tomorrow and check up on him."

The two agreed.

 **Monday**

Mike, Dustin, Lucas and Will were all hanging out by the front entrance. The group was talking about comic books. After a certain point, Lucas and Dustin proceeded to argue about yet another fictitious comic book battle. As they quarreled, Mike turned to Will and put his arm on his shoulder.

"Hey man, you alright?" Mike asked with much concern.

"Listen, I can't imagine what you're going through, but whatever it is, you know you can always talk to me about it."

"I know, Mike. Thanks."

"You're my brother. We look out for each other, all of us, understand?"

"I know man. But there are just some things you don't and can't understand."

Mike looked hurt from this statement but smiled through it and said, "Friends don't lie. Just remember that, Will."

He gave one last pad on his back.

"Guy's, why's the chief here?"

Dustin pointed to Hopper's car which pulled up to the front entrance.

"Something going down?" Lucas asked.

"No, it's her." Mike said.

El got out of the car.

"Don't forget your lunch!" Hopper handed her a brown paper bag. "PB&J, a cup of pudding, and some eggo slices."

El smiled, "Thank, dad."

Hopper nodded proudly before saying, "Alright, go learn something! See you afterschool bud."

"See you."

El turned to the school, her legs shaking, movement commenced as students were entering the school, but not without each taking a glance at the new student.

Eleven was wearing blue denim overalls over a black turtleneck sweater, finished all off with a pair of red Converse sneakers. Her hair was styled in a thick, curly fashion, very different, to say the least, from her last haircut.

"Who's the new girl?" one kid muttered as he walked by her.

"She's pretty." another said.

"What's her name?" whispered another.

El stood there and looked at the front entrance nervously. She has never been educated in any of the four main subjects by any standards, let alone gone to public school for it. But the men "in charge" cleared everything and she was to go to school like a normal kid. As far as the school was aware, on paper, she was just a homeschooled adopted child enrolling at their institution.

El soon changed her expression from fear to determination. She held her notebooks tightly against her chest and firmly gripped her lunch bag. As she began walking towards the entrance a voice called out to her.

"Eleven!" Mike yelled

El stopped just outside the door, her face, though shocked, gradually formed a smile. A tear slowly trickled down her right eye. She turned to see her friend.

"Hi, Mike."

Mike ran over. After dropping her books without a second thought, El put her arms out to embrace him. Mike ran with a rush of adrenaline and practically slammed into her but both managed to keep their feet on the ground. Tears ran down their eyes.

"I missed you." Mike said.

"Same." she replied.

As the two clung close to one another, memories flashed back in Mike's mind. These were nothing but good memories. He was reminiscing of the time they first met and they introduced themselves in his basement. Of the time He, Dustin, and El all hugged each other by the lake. Of the time he pushed Troy in the school gym and she came to his defense. Of the time he first called her "pretty". Of the time they first kissed. These were memories he could never forget. And now that he was thinking about them, he managed a slight chuckle of joy.

After finishing recalling these moments, Mike spoke again, "What are you doing here? You look like a student."

"I am a student here, Mike."

"But…but you were gone for so long, and…"

"I'll explain everything later, Mike. Promise."

Lucas, Will, and Dustin watched from their bikes, tears running down their cheeks.

"I…I knew she was never gone." Lucas proclaimed.

Dustin sniffled and just barely uttering, "Wow that's heavy."

"You said it bro." Lucas solemnly said as he struggled to keep his face dry.

"Wanna go over and say hi?" Will suggested.

"Let's do it." Dustin said.

The three walked over and each gave El a hug.

"We haven't met." El said to Will.

"We have a lot of acquainting to do." Will said gleefully.

As the five stood there and mingled, Max rolled over with her skateboard.

"Hey guys!" she said.

"Hey Max!" Mike said.

"What's everyone up to?"

"We were just catching up with our old friend Ele…"

"Ellie." El chimed in.

Mike turned to her in confusion and as El glared at him, he immediately understood what was going on.

"Uh..yeah..so this is Ellie."

Max put out her hand, "Nice to meet you! I'm Max."

"Nice to meet you too." El shook her hand.

"Well I guess we can all get to know each other later. Let's get to class." Mike said.

"Yeah, hey let's all get lunch get afterschool together!" Dustin said.

"Do you ever not think about food?" Lucas asked.

The group laughed.

The six compadres held a line and walked through the entrance in formation, as their own unit of companionship.

For the first time ever, even for just a tiny moment, all of them were happy and felt a sense of belonging.


	4. Will

**A/N: Hey everyone. First and foremost I'd like to thank those who've read this story so far and those who've reviewed it. I'm sorry for being late with Part Two. With balancing school and work, things have been busy. Excuses aside, I apologize to my readers for keeping you guys in the dark. Here's Chapter 4 to give you an idea of where the story's heading as I'm finishing up 5 and 6. Thank you to all my readers for giving this story a chance.**

 **After school**

The group entered a local restaurant called Hangry Hank's. While for them it was just another ordinary meal, for El, this was significant. This was her second time in a fast-food joint; and she still had vivid memories of Benny's Burgers, where its owner unfortunately met his demise. But this was a whole new scene. Entire families huddled en masse, elderly chatted peacefully in the booths, she was there with her friends, and as far as she knew no one was out to get her. It was a warm atmosphere this time

The gang walked up to the counter and placed their orders.

"Let me get the bacon burger with cheese, fries, and a soda." Lucas said.

"I'll just have the grilled turkey and a soda." Will said.

"I'll take the classic hamburger, fries, a cupcake, and a soda." Dustin said.

"I'll have a veggie burger and fries with a soda." Max said.

"And I will have the cheeseburger with fries and a soda." Mike said.

El was the last to order. She stepped up and scanned the menu. She marveled at how so many foods could be named so creatively and come in so many varieties. At Hawkins Lab, she remembered consuming stale sandwiches and water, neither of which were as colorful as the items she was currently looking at. Finally she turned to Mike.

"I don't know what to get."

"It's ok. You've never been here before. Want me to order for you?"

"Okay."

"She'll have the cheeseburger with fries and a soda."

El smiled.

"Is that good, El?"

"Good."

As the group began to sit, they realized they couldn't all fit in one booth. Dustin took notice of this and immediately whispered something in Lucas's ear, who passed it down to Will, and finally to Max. The four then quickly rushed to a booth for four, while El and Mike were left standing.

"Hey, what gives?" Mike protested.

The four sat there, in unison, smiling smugly at the two. Dustin and Lucas raised their eyebrows twice.

"You motherfu…" before he could finish that thought, Mike quickly corrected it to "You mouthbreathers."

El was standing there, completely dumbfounded.

"Mike, what's happening?"

"Nothing, El." He replied. "But there's no room here, so we'll just sit over there." He pointed at a table with two chairs, two booths away from the four traitors.

"Okay." El complied.

As she walked over, Mike turned to his friends and fretted, "What the hell's the matter with you guys? I can't sit with her alone."

"Mike, you got this." Dustin said.

"Consider this your first date, sweetie." Max added like a proud mom.

"Have her back home before three-thirty, you have a test next week to study for. And no kissy-face like last time! We're here to eat." Lucas said.

"You're all gross, I swear." Mike said before going over to join El.

"Mike, why are they so happy?" she asked.

"It's nothing really, although I think I need to find some new friends."

"What? Why." El seemed genuinely worried about his statement.

"It's just a joke."

"Oh." El did not look convinced but carried on and began fiddling with the salt shaker.

The six of them waited on their orders. As the booth mingled about various trends and current events, El scouted the area and noticed something interesting.

"What's that?" she pointed outside. Several children were running around in the playground.

"Oh that? That's the playground."

"What does it do?"

"It's for little kids to play around when they get bored. Like their version of video games I guess."

"Can we play?" El asked.

"Nah. We're way too old for that. We're both teenagers. I think that's more for kids under like 10 years old."

El looked disappointed.

"Way to go Wheeler, very classy." he thought to himself.

"I mean I haven't played there in a while, but I guess…"

El leaped from her chair and ran outside. Children scattered as the much bigger youth went straight for the monkey bars.

Mike got up from his chair and thought, "I guess we're doing this."

El finished a small obstacle before ending up at the beginning of a tube slide. Mike came up from behind and pushed her down. He followed. She reached the end and landed on the mulch, Mike slid from behind, softly bumping into her. As they fell to the ground, the two started laughing.

Laying there on the wood chipping surface, side by side, they were without worries as they stared up into the light blue abyss.

Dustin came out of the restaurant, "Mike your food is ready and…woah."

Mike got up, "Dus."

"Hey what're you hooligans up to?"

"Relax, El just wanted to see the playground. She's never been to one before."

"Okay. Um…El, your food is ready. You too, Romeo."

Mike retrieved his and El's order from the counter and set it on the table.

"Alright, two orders of a cheeseburger and fries and a drink. Looks good right?"

El nodded, smiling at the sight of her food.

"Let's dig in."

She bit into her burger.

"Good, huh?"

She nodded and munched on her meal.

"Hey slow down." Mike said.

As El was half-way done with the burger, she thought back to Benny. She thought of the man who first did something good for her after she escaped from Brenner. The man who took her in, fed her, and made her smile. He was truly a good person. But he was dead because of this. People have died because of her.

As she pondered this, a tear ran down her left cheek.

"I won't let any more people get hurt because of me. No more. I'll protect Mike. I'll protect all my friends." she thought to herself.

Mike noticed something was off and asked, "El, you okay?"

She quickly wiped a tear and nodded, "I'm okay, Mike. Thank you. Thank you for everything."

"Oh…um. Of course."

El smiled and they continued to eat.

 **Afterwards**

"Oh man that was great. Where to next?" Dustin asked.

"It's still before dinner time, my house?" Mike suggested.

"Works for me." Will said.

"Let's go." Lucas said.

"To the Wheeler Cave!" Max announced.

Getting on their bikes, Lucas said to Max, "So you're a DC fan huh?"

"To each their own right?" she replied.

"Aha, I respect that."

The two briefly smiled at one another before everyone began en route for the Wheeler house.

The gang entered through the backdoor. The four boys scattered throughout the basement as the two girls examined the area, one being a new recruit to the team and another absent for a year.

"This is a nice place you got here." Max complimented.

"Yeah, it's pretty neat." Mike replied.

"Alright, we're here. What now?" Lucas asked.

"Movie and food?" Dustin suggested.

"We just ate." Mike said.

Dustin rephrased, "Movie and snacks?"

"I'm up for a movie." Max said.

"We have school tomorrow though. And Mike, you have a test next week."

"Will, it' just biology, I have an A in that class." Mike replied.

Will fell silent.

Mike turned to the group, "So which movie should we watch?"

"Let's do Alien. I love Sigourney Weaver." Dustin said.

Lucas shook his head, "You're so weird, man."

"Alright smartass, what do you want to watch?"

He answered, "Nothing beats Rocky. Now that's a classic."

Max jumped in, "How about E.T.?"

"What's E…T?" El asked.

"It's a movie about an alien that gets stranded on Earth but makes some friends." Max replied.

Dustin interjected, "I think El's first movie should be something a little more…"

"I want to watch E.T." El said.

Mike grabbed the tape, "She wants E.T."

"We have a movie!" Lucas announced.

Dustin headed for the stairs and spoke as he went up, "It's settled then. I'll make the popcorn."

Watching the film, Max, Lucas, Mike, and El sat on the couch. Will and Dustin each pulled up a chair next them. As they watched, Lucas and Max mingled in between scenes. Throughout the screening, Dustin glanced over at them contently. Nearing the end, El was getting tired. She began to yawn and laid her head on Mike's shoulder, eyes still set on the screen.

Mike looked down at her and whispered, "You okay?"

"Tired." El whispered back.

"You want to go home now?"

"No, I want to finish it."

After the group finished the movie, they said their goodbyes and headed home. Mike decided to take El back on his bike. While they were riding, they had the conversation about how she was able to come back.

"So that's what happened, huh?"

"Yeah." El said.

"I'm just glad you're finally back."

"Me too."

"Ok, we're here…wait is this the right address?" Mike said unexpectedly.

"Yes, this is my house." El answered.

"Hm, I guess Hop's doing pretty good for himself huh?" Mike remarked.

"Yeah, he is."

The front door of the one level ranch house opened.

"Hey Mike! How's it going?" Hopper said.

"Going good Sir, nice place you got here."

"Yeah, came out of my emergency savings."

"That's nice."

"So did you kids have fun?"

"Yes." El and Mike said simultaneously.

"Great. El, I made some spaghetti if you want. It's on the stove."

"Thanks, Dad."

"Mike, it was good seeing you again bud, tell the family I said hi."

"Yessir. I will."

"Ellie, I'll be inside."

Hopper walked back in.

"Ellie?" Mike asked.

"Yeah, it's my name now."

"The name 'they' gave you?"

El nodded.

"Screw that, you're still Eleven to me, El for short."

She smiled.

"Ok, I'll see you tomorrow, El."

El stepped forward and hugged Mike tightly, then kissing him on the cheek.

"Night, Mike."

As El closed the door behind her, Mike got on his bike and ventured home.

 **The next day**

At 5AM on a Tuesday morning, Mike Wheeler is sound asleep. He's dreaming about himself and El . They're at a football game. Mike is the quarterback and El the cheerleading captain of Hawkins Middle. Nearing the end of the last quarter, QB passes the ball to Lucas who's already passed the end zone. He catches it and the crowd roars. Mike boasts with his teammates and does a little dance. He runs over to El. The dreamworld Mike stands at a graceful 6'4", he picks up his much smaller girlfriend and kisses her on the lips, carrying her in a princess-style fashion.

"El! I did it! We won!"

"Yes we did, Mike."

While still holding her, the two stare at one another before El goes in for another kiss.

With his eyes closed and in the moment, Mike begins to notice something's not right. He can feel energy being dragged out of him. Pulling his head away, it's something horrifying.

El's eyes turned pitch black, her long smooth hair grew to unfeasible lengths and began to strangle the boy wonder. As dreamworld QB was lifted up in the air, he and everyone else in the stadium slowly began to disintegrate to ashes, their whole world scorched in blue flames.

Then, a voice suddenly echoes in all this madness, "Mike! You copy?"

Mike wakes up from the nightmare, sweating and panting hard.

Will's voice continued to resonate from a walkie-talkie, "Mike! You there?"

Getting himself together, he finally answers the call.

"Uh…y…y…yeah I'm here."

"You okay?"

"Yeah of course, wait what time is it?"

"5:10."

"Why the hell are you calling me three and a half hours before school starts?"

"Because I need to talk to you about something, something important, get dressed."

"Now?"

"I just don't see a better time. I have to tell you now, Mike."

"Alright just let me take a shower."

"No shower, just get dressed and get on your bike, meet me at the quarry within the next twenty minutes."

"What quarry?"

"The one where they found my fake body. Meet me at the cliff. I think you know the place."

He paused and he was putting on his pants, the talkie in his ear.

"Mike?"

"Roger that." he replied.

 **At the quarry**

Will was sitting in the gravel, observing the rising sun. As Mike walked his bike towards him, he stood up swiftly.

"Hey Will."

"You made it."

"Well, it seemed really important, what's up?"

Will looked to the horizon.

"What's up is…you remember when you told me friends don't lie?"

"Yeah, they don't."

"Exactly. I can't lie anymore, Mike."

"What do you me…"

Before Mike could finish, Will leaned into him. His arms held onto Mike's elbows as their lips touched. Mike, who did not want to hurt his friend, just stood still for as long as it lasted, which was about five seconds. Will pulled himself back.

The two looked at each other, both seemingly dumbstruck with what just happened.

Will then began an internal battle with himself, as if he was trying to hold fifty different emotional reactions inside of him at once.

"Bro, I'm sorry. I'm so sorry." Will wept.

Mike stared at his friend, his expression changed to something of empathy.

"I'm so…I'm… …I'm sorry…please."

Will sauntered forward and buried his head in Mike's chest. Mike immediately consoled him, placing one arm on his back, another behind his head.

"What the hell do you have to be sorry for?"

"Forgive me, Mike."

"There's nothing to forgive."

"Do you understand now?"

"Yes, I do, and it's okay. You're still Will. You're still you. Why does anything else matter?"

"Why am I like this?"

"There's nothing wrong with you man. You are what you're meant to be, understand? You're Will Byers, my best friend. This isn't gonna change that."

Will nodded, his face looking to the ground.

"And keep your head up."

He nodded again, this time making eye contact with Mike.

"Good. We better get going. I'm kind of hungry."

"So you're not mad?"

"About?"

"That I kissed you."

"Heck no! I mean, that's one more thing I can cross off my bucket list."

The both chuckled at that statement.

They retrieved their bikes.

"C'mon man, let's get some bacon, egg, and cheese bagels."

Will wiped a tear, "Okay, wait what about your shower?"

"Screw the shower. Let's just eat."

 **Thursday night**

The juniors and seniors of Hawkins High are indulging in house party festivities, at the mansion of the rambunctious Steve Harrington. The kids are playing various drinking games and dancing to the upbeat music of Pat Benatar's Love Is a Battlefield. Steve and Nancy are cavorting in the corner.

"You sure know how to throw a party Steve Harrington."

"Why thank you Nancy Wheeler."

"Hey, why don't you take off those shades, I wanna see your eyes, cutie."

He takes off his glasses and Nancy pulls him in for a kiss.

As they smooch a group of four seniors take notice of this and walk toward the couple.

"Man, getting some action eh Harrington?" Tommy said.

"Hi Tommy."

"Nancy."

"Hey Tommy."

"Steve, I just want to say, man, I'm sorry. You were right, I was an asshole. Selfish, asshole."

"Man he's fucking wasted." a member of Tommy's entourage chuckles.

"Who are you?" Steve asked.

"This is Billy." Nancy said.

"Wheeler, right? You're in my history class."

"I know and you haven't showed up since last Wednesday."

"What the hell's the point? You show up and you learn about a bunch of dead people. Not a class worth showing up to if you ask me."

"Well there's a lot more to it than that."

Billy takes sip of his half-empty Jack Daniels's bottle, "Yeah sure, more to it."

"Hey where you from?" Steve asked.

"Cali." Billy replied.

"Like the cartel?"

"The US state."

The two stare at each other with content before Nancy breaks the tension and suggests they play a game of Chandelier.

"I'm game!" Billy said.

"I wanna play too!" Tommy shouts almost incoherently.

Steve escorts his friend to the couch, "Sit on the couch Tommy."

"No! I wanna play!"

"No, you're drunk as hell. Sit."

"Nooooo!"

"I said sit on the couch!"

Tommy stayed down.

In the kitchen, Billy sets up a circle of nine Solo cups on the table, each filled with beer, a quarter of the way up. In the center is a cup filled all the way to the brim.

"How do we play this again?" Steve asked.

Billy looks at Steve and smirks, "The legendary party thrower doesn't know how to play Chandelier?"

"How about you tell me how and I'll kick your ass once we start?"

Billy smiles, "I like your style Harrington, love it!"

Billy promptly breaks down the rules.

"Got it." Steve said.

"Alright, let's play!" Nancy said.

"Ally, why don't you start?" Billy said.

"Sure."

Nancy's friend bounces the ball off the table and it lands in Carol's cup. Carol drinks her cup and refills it.

"Your turn, Nance." Steve said.

Nancy bounces the ball and it lands in another senior's cup, he drinks and refills it.

"Harrington." Billy says.

Steve bounces it and it lands in the middle cup. The players immediately scramble for their cups to drink what's in it, they then engage in a mini-game of flip-cup. Nancy is the last to flip hers over.

"Loser drinks the center cup. Chug it Wheeler!" Billy shouts.

Nancy drinks the whole thing.

Billy smiles and turns to the group, "Alright who's next?"

The game goes on for another thirty minutes and each person has gone at least eight times. Nancy is especially inebriated.

"Hey you okay?" Steve asks.

"I ummm….heyyy Steve. Nice hair."

"Alright that's it, sit down."

"I…I don't…we have a game to play Steve."

"Nancy!"

The doorbell rings.

"Oh who the fuck could that be?" Steve said.

A party-guest lets in Jonathan Byers. He's dressed in a checkered shirt and beige khakis, simple yet unconventional for him.

"Oh for fucks sake." Steve said.

"Hey, Steve."

"Byers. How's it going?"

"Good, um Nancy invited me, she thought it would be a good…"

"Yeah well Nancy's fucking destroyed right now."

"What?"

Steve points to the couch, the tipsy Nancy plays with her hair.

"What the hell happened?" Jonathan asked.

"Byers look where you are. What the fuck do you think happened to her?"

"I'm taking her home."

Steve grabs his arm, "If you lay a finger on her…"

"Heeeyyyy Jonathan!"

"Nancy I'm taking you home."

"Okay."

"No, not okay. Her parents can't know we were drinking tonight."

"I don't care, she's freaking wasted, she needs to be home right now!"

Their feud soon grows irrelevant as two cop cars pull up to the front of the house.

"Shit."

Steve, Jonathan, Billy, Carol, Ally, and several more of the upperclassmen step outside.

Two cops get out of each car.

"Fucking pigs." Billy said.

"This is bad." Jonathan said.

"We got a call saying there's a disturbance, are you the disturbance, Steve?" Hopper asked.

"Chief, we're just having some fun. These are the 80s, the golden years. C'mon it's happening, right?" Billy said.

"What's happening is you're committing several felonies right now. But I don't feel like arresting anyone tonight so how about you turn that obnoxious music off and you kids head on home."

"And what if we say no?" Billy asked.

"Then, kid, you're going to be very sorr…"

Mid-sentence, Billy spews his liquor in Hopper's face, "Piss off, fucker."

"Okay now it's happening."

Hopper grabs Billy. As the vagabond struggles to break free, the chief performs a front-sweep and the teen faceplants to the grass.

"Fuck!"

"Sorry, kid. But all you had to do was not spit alcohol in a law enforcement officer's face."

Some of Billy's entourage fought to set him free but they are also arrested. The scene spelled mayhem for the party goers as everyone rushed to get home. Jonathan went back into the house to get Nancy out of there.

"Nancy c'mon!"

"Oh hey Johnny boy!"

"Nancy, we have to go, Hopper's here, we're in trouble if your parents find out about this."

"Hop? Noooo, Hop's a good cop. Heh! That rhymed!."

"I know he is but something bad just happened and we need to get home right now."

Jonathan escorts Nancy to his car, in all the havoc, Hopper has zero awareness of their being there.

At the house, Jonathan brings Nancy in through the backdoor, and sits her on the basement couch.

"Here's a blanket, and some water, get some rest." Jonathan said.

"Okay Johnny. Thank you."

Jonathan turns and heads for the door.

"Hey, Jon?"

"Yeah?"

"I always wanted to pick you."

Jonathan didn't know what to make of this and just sad, "Goodnight, Nance."

The door closed behind him.

 **The next morning**

Nancy opened the basement door and smelled bacon.

"Morning!" Mrs. Wheeler said.

"Did you sleep in the basement?" Mr. Wheeler asked.

"Um yeah I did."

"Why?" Mrs. Wheeler asked.

"Um, I was watching a movie with Ally. After she left I sort of just got really tired and fell asleep."

"Well honey, if your friends are here, don't keep them in the basement. You kids can always watch movies in the living room." Mrs. Wheeler said.

"That's okay. It was a romantic movie. And Ally felt better watching it down there. You know it'd be a little awkward watching it in the family room and stuff."

"Oh." her mother said as she set Nancy's meal on the table.

The Wheelers ate their breakfast silently, Mr. Wheeler reading the newspaper, Holly playing with her oatmeal, Mrs. Wheeler reading her copy of _Misery_ by Stephen King.

"Where's Mike?" Nancy asked

"He got an early start, went to get bagels with Will."

"Oh."

"Anyway honey, I need to remind you, you're taking Mike's friend Ellie shopping today."

"Why me?"

"Because she's new in town and doesn't know Hawkins and she needs new clothes. She's also Mike's friend so you're doing this for your brother."

"Fine."

"After school, pick her up at Hopper's, take the Toyota. And you just got your license, so be extra careful."

"Fine."

Nancy arrived at Hopper's house in due time.

"Hey Nance."

"Hey Hop, I'm here to pick up Eleven."

"Who's Eleven?" Hopper asked.

"Look, maybe my parents are too dumb to realize it but I already saw her at my house the other day. And, we've already met, you know, when we made that salt bath."

"I suppose it doesn't make a difference. I trust you anyway Nancy, you're a good kid."

Nancy smiled.

"So where is she?"

"Yeah, she'll be right out."

"Um…this is a very nice house, Hop. We're all very happy for you."

"Thank you."

El came out of the house. She was wearing a Rolling Stones t-shirt tucked in light blue jeans and sported a pair of white converse sneakers, along with the same thick and curly styled hair. Nancy seemed befuddled from the look, in a good way of course.

"Hi Nancy."

"Hey beautiful. Are you sure you need me to help pick out clothes for you? It looks like you got it all figured out. I love the Stones too by the way."

"Beast of Burden, great song." El said.

"It is! OK, wanna go now?"

"Yeah."

"C'mon we have about two hours, store closes at six on Friday's."

El kissed Hopper on the cheek, "Bye daddy."

"Be safe, kiddo."

The duo pulled up to a local fashion retailer called Forever Teen. Nancy parked the Toyota and they went inside.

"Okay so this is kind of a mix between a thrift store and a fashion store. They got vintage stuff and new stuff."

"Vintage?" El asked.

"It means things that are old, but cool at the same time."

"Cool."

"Yeah it is. I like it at least. You go ahead and look around, pick out what you want."

"Okay."

El went up and down the aisles. She had never been in a clothing store before. She was just as astounded with the options and different varieties as she was at the burger place. She grabbed a heap of apparel made up of leggings, jackets, band shirts, and a lot of denim. She went into the changing room. She came out multiple times to see herself in the mirror, enjoying the fun convention of trying on new clothes.

Her first outfit was a red and white varsity leather jacket with light denim blue jeans and white Chucks, her second was a white Beatles tee with a denim mini-skirt over black leggings and a pair of Doc Martens, her third had a denim jacket and pants along with a black clash t-shirt and a pair of black Keds.

Nancy stood outside the changing room, amused that the youngster was enjoying herself, "Hey El, I'm glad you're having fun but we're not buying everything you picked out right? My new job doesn't cover all that."

"You're buying this for me?" El asked.

"Yeah, you're practically my brother's girlfriend. I have to treat you extra special. See it as a gift."

"What's a girlfriend?"

"It's like when a boy and girl really like each other, and they sort of become one entity."

"Like…one person."

"That was a bad explanation. I mean…more like you become really close and you start to do things together that friends wouldn't, more things."

"What kind of things?"

"Eh, I'll explain that to you when you're a little older. Just know that boyfriends and girlfriends are different from just friends."

"Okay."

"Alrighty. Now go pick out the clothes you want and we'll get going. I can do anything under $250."

"Thank you Nancy."

"No problem, kid."

The cashier rung up an assortment of leggings, tees, and denim attire. El looked very pleased as the bags were handed to her and Nancy.

"Take care, dear." The cashier said.

"Thank you, you too." El replied.

"Congratulations, Ellie, you're first shopping spree."

El smiled at Nancy's remark.

As the two arrived back at El's house, Hopper came out the front porch in full regalia, zipping up his windbreaker, a cigarette in his mouth.

Nancy approached him, "Hey Chief, off to crack another big case?"

"Actually, yeah, your brother's friend didn't come home from school. He's missing, again."

Nancy's joking demeanor disappeared.

"Nance, can you take El to your house until I get back? Don't want her home alone. "

"Of course. But I don't think she'll have any problems dealing with intruders if that's what you're worried about."

"Look, it's just a precaution, okay? Ever since last year this whole damn town has turned upside down."

El couldn't help but giggle at the last part of Hopper's statement, covering her mouth.

"You say something, El?" Nancy asked.

"No. Nothing."

"Okay, I'm off to Joyce's to find out more about this. Drive safe."

"I will."

 **At Mike's house**

"Where the hell could he possibly be this time? Is he really gonna put us through this again?" Dustin said.

"This is bullshit! We should be out there looking for him! We know more about him than anyone else!" Lucas said.

"Guys, c'mon. I'm sure he's perfectly fine. Will seems like a tough kid." Max said.

Mike sat beside El on the couch while the three bickered at the table.

"You okay?" Mike asked.

"Yes. Are you…worried about Will?" El asked

"Of course I am."

"Don't be."

"What? Why not?"

A drop of blood flowed down from El's nose.

"Because I've already found him." she said.

By bike, El and Mike arrived at Will's house. There was no car in the driveway, and the house seemed pitch black from the inside, indicating the Byers were out searching. Mike knocked on the door a few times to confirm this.

"C'mon let' go out back, are you sure about this?"

"Yes." El said

The duo ventured past the woodlands behind the house and arrived at Castle Byers, the house was lit up from the inside. It hasn't changed, the same setup made out of branches and a shower curtain for an entrance. Mike, being cautious with a crowbar in his right hand, pulled back the curtain with his left. He peaked inside, and sighed in relief. He nodded to El.

"What the hell do you think you're doing?"

"What?" Will asked, reading an X-Men comic book.

"Your mom hasn't seen you all day, that's what. She thought you ran away and you've just been here this whole time?"

"I did run away, I left town. But I came back."

"Well, why the change of heart then?"

"Because someone told me to."

"Who?"

Will casually pointed at El, eyes set on his comic.

"El?"

"He's like me, Mike."

"What do you mea…no. No that's impossible."

Will sighed and put down his comic, "I told you this already. When I was in the Upside Down, it attached some sort of tube to my mouth. It was trying to drain my energy or something. But then Hopper saved me. And ever since it's as if it became a part of me."

"And you're telling me it was a telepath?"

Will made a fist in both hands as various items in the Castle levitated in the air. Mike watched in astonishment. El leaned on the doorway, arms crossed, staring blankly as Will controlled almost everything in the room with his mind.

He dropped everything, "Not just a telepath."

Mike sat down on Will's cot, befuddled.

"Is there more?"

"Yes."

Mike buried his face in his hands.

"There's this."

Will pulled off his shirt and Mike stared in horror; El uncrossed her hands and had a similar expression.

"What the fuck, Will."

What he revealed was uncanny. Leathery white patches of skin covered his abdomen, his chest, his right shoulder blade.

"I can feel myself changing every day. It's not uncontrollable. I can control it, I can make it go away as I please."

As he said this, the skin slowly disappeared as a sizzling sound reverberates.

Mike gulped and then spoke, "So it's almost like you're…"

"The Demogorgon." Will said.


	5. Ten

**A/N: Just a forewarning, there is a scene in this chapter that's pretty graphic and somewhat grotesque. I contemplated putting it in a T-rated story but felt it would be more realistic to include it. Thank you again to my current and new readers alike. I really appreciate your support. I'll be releasing one more chapter before the Season 2 premiere. Haven't decided whether or not I'll continue the story after that. Thank you all and hope you're all doing well.**

"So, you're the Demogorgon?" Mike asked.

"No, I can't really explain it, but it's a part of me now. It's like I have some of its powers."

"The thing was like El?" Mike asked.

"Yes." El replied.

"But I got more of the monster part, I don't think I can do a lot of what El does."

"This is just insane." Mike said, grasping both hands around the back of his head, pacing.

"After all that's happened, I'm actually more surprised that you're surprised." Will said.

"It's crazy! You're telling me you're some kind of psychokinetic shapeshifter! What am I supposed to think?"

"Ok when you say it like that it sounds pretty cool."

El smirks and covers her mouth.

Mike turns to her, "El. This is serious."

Her face turns somber, "Sorry."

"Does your mom or Jonathan know about this?" Mike asked.

"No."

"A year and you haven't told her you're a telepathic monster?"

"Again, that doesn't sound nearly as bad as you're making it out to be. And it didn't happen overnight. It happened over time."

"I…I don't know how to react to this Will."

"So you're okay with me being gay but not a superhero?"

"Who the fuck cares if you're gay, this is different. I don't know how to react."

"Then don't. Just take it as it is. Okay Mike? Please don't tell anyone else, it stays here."

"I won't, Will, I promise, but you're gonna have to tell them eventually."

"I understand. When the time's right. But I'm not what you should be worried about."

"Then what is?"

"Ten." El said.

"Ten?" Mike asked.

"Ten was MKUltra's experiment before Eleven." Will answered.

"My brother." El added.

"Brother?"

"Not literally, just that they were both kids being experimented." Will said.

Mike began, "So that means…"

"He's psychokinetic, like her, like me."

"How do you know about him?"

"We've been communicating, telepathically. "

"How long have you guys been talking?" Mike asked.

"Ever since I started drawing those photos."

"Three months?"

"Yeah." Will replied.

"Wait, you said this Ten is like Eleven. So he's a kid right?"

Will nodded.

"But when you drew…those photos…"

"Exactly. It's a monster, but it must have originally been a kid. Some poor kid that those pieces of shit experimented on."

"Bad words."

"Sorry El." Will lamented.

"It's okay." she replied.

"So why should I be worried about 'Ten'?"

"Me and El have been communicating with him, and he doesn't sound like he's looking to enroll at Hawkins Middle anytime soon." Will replied.

"What does he want?" Mike asked.

"He doesn't want anything. He just wants to destroy everyone, this town, the state, probably everything. He wants to watch the world burn, because of what it did to him."

"Can you convince him to let it go?"

"Multiple times."

"So?"

"So people who spend their entire lives locked in a facility forced to destroy stuff and kill furry animals don't just let things go. He's tortured. He wants revenge."

The two superpowered teens stood quietly as Mike juggled different scenarios in his head.

"Mike?" Will asked.

Mike was unresponsive, sunk deep in a state of constant paranoia. He began to imagine the horrors of what would come of this. He imagined people dying. He imagined losing his family, losing his friends, losing El. Tears jerked from his left eye.

El sat down on the cot beside him, placing a hand on his shoulder.

"Mike?" she said, with a worried look.

"Hey." Mike answered.

"Are you ok?" she asked.

He wiped the tears away, "Yeah, yeah I'm ok, thanks El."

Mike moved forward to kiss her on the forehead. El seemed startled and retreated slightly, with a smile and a blush, it had reminded her of a similar situation that happened just short of a year ago.

"Mike." Will said.

"Yeah?"

"What do you wanna do?"

A content look in his eyes, Mike stood and boldly said, "We need to tell Hopper."

 **At Hawkins Lab**

Dr. Owens and his colleagues, several government agents in black and white suits, two dozen armed military personal, and ten officials from the Indiana State Police are surrounded around the portal that leads to the Upside Down. They repeat the process like last year. A man in a hazmat suit, wearing a metal harness, is sent through the portal, in his hands he holds some sort of digital detecting device.

"Good luck Timothy." Owens said.

"Thank you sir." replied the man in the suit.

Timothy entered the portal. As several minutes passed, the horrors of last year were all but forgotten by Brenner's former associates.

"Does he even know what he's in for?" a man in a lab coat asked.

"No, how could we tell him?" another associate replied.

"I think he's entitled to know he's giving away his life for this cause."

"Heh…'cause', I'm not even sure where our main objective ends and pure madness begins." an associate said.

"Fucking kid is 21." A third one said.

The process goes on for two more hours. Most of the men have pulled up chairs around the opening.

"Have you found him yet, Timothy?"

"Not yet bos…wait...wait a second. Boss! The readings are off the charts!"

"Good, Timothy. Good. This means you're very close. Now just continue what you're doing, good job son."

"This can't be good." an associate said.

"He's fucked." another whispered.

"Timothy, is he there?" Owens asked.

Owens' talkie goes silent for several seconds, the entire lab is hushed.

Then, Timothy finally replied in an unnerving tone, "Yes Dr. Owens, I found him."

"Good! Good Timothy! Now go to him."

"Don't need to Doc. He came to me." Timothy replied, with the same tone.

"Come again?"

"It's tentacles ar… ar…are around me Doc. It hurts!"

Owens stared straight at the portal in awe. His talkie fell to the floor as his right arm dropped to his side.

"Sir! Help! Help! Please!"

The doctor placed his arms on his hips and stared down in shame as the explorer shrieked in agony.

"Aaaaaahhhh! No! Please! Stop!"

"We're just going to leave him like this?" an associate asked.

Owens stayed silent, head still hung.

Through the talkie, Timothy's screams can be heard as the monster continued to put pressure on him.

"It's crushing me! Dr. Owens! Aaaahhhhh! Ple…"

A loud smush sound is heard over the talkie.

"By god and all that is holy." a military official said.

"It was a terrible mistake." Owens said.

"What are you trying to run here Owens?"an army colonel asked.

"I'm trying to locate something, something that was beyond Brenner's control."

"So you solve it by sending young men to their deaths?" the colonel asked furiously.

"You don't understand what's going on here! This thing is the future of modern weaponry. If we can just find a means to control it, we can…"

"We can what?" the colonel asked.

"We…"

Before Owens could say another word, a loud noise is uttered from inside the portal.

 _Muuuuuhhhhhrrrrrr_

Everyone in the facility stopped what they were doing and looked in the direction of the sound's origin.

"Was that?" the colonel asked.

"It's him."

Loud thumping is heard from inside the portal, but more audible through Owens' talkie. The sound grew louder in both aspects.

 _thump…thump…thump…thump_

Then, a round white shape slowly emerged from the hole. As it continued to exit the portal it becomes more apparent to the onlookers. A skull came out, along with various pieces of a crushed human skeleton.

Timothy's remains are dumped in front of the entrance to the Upside Down. Owens and his colleagues do nothing but stare, in severe dismay.

 _thump…..thump….thump...thump….thump….thump….thump...thump thump thump thump thump_

The sound stops for a moment as everyone anxiously looked on.

 _thump_

A large, white leathery tentacle swiftly manifests, followed by another one. The two slender limbs grab a man in a white coat, one coils around his neck, the other around his ankles. They begin to pull on opposite directions.

"Aaaaahhhhhh!"

 _Crrrshhhhh_

The man's head, torso, and legs were tossed to three different areas of the room.

The colonel yells, "Fire!"

Without hesitation, over thirty men draw their guns as six more tentacles emerged from the portal.

 _blam!...blam!...blam!...blam!_

The bullets, while futile, irritated the monster, which continued to slaughter more men. One tentacle pierced an Army major straight through his chest, his rifle still firing as his lifeless body was driven into a wall. Another made a whipping motion and flung eight men into the air, some ending up dead and others severely injured. Another rapped itself entirely around the body of a police officer, covering him from head to toe, squeezing the man into a red goop, the blood splattering on Owens.

The doctor watched the scene unveil, seeing it dismember and crush his men right before his eyes, a look of fascination on his face.

A man in a coat, with his limbs severed from the knee down, crawls over to Owens, leaving a trail of blood. He grabbed the doc's shoe. Tears flew down the coated man's face as a tentacle slowly gripped his torso.

"Please, Dr. Owens, please, make it stop. I'm begging you." the man wept. "I have to get home, It's my…my son's birth…"

 _Crrsshhh_

The doctor casually shakes the motionless hand off his foot, it flopped to the side with its owner's corpse now soaked in a pool of blood. The room was painted red with the fluid of dead soldiers and scientists. Limbs, intestines, and brain matter coated the floor and walls. It was a massacre with the only survivor being Owens.

"Ten!" he shouts. "It's good to see you my boy."

Ten's head emerged from the portal as he stood on his eight tentacles like a cellar spider. His tentacles were eighty feet long and eight feet in circumference. His torso was long and horse-like, with four legs on each side. His feet resembled a horse's, but with a large sharp toenail attached at the end of it. His head was elongated, banana-like. His face was without eyes, but had two holes for a nose and razor sharp teeth. He stood at approximately twenty feet tall.

Ten just stared at the doctor as he went on.

"Ten, welcome back. Now I know you and Dr. Brenner weren't exactly on good terms, but I'd like to assure you things will be different from now on."

…

"It's very good what you did here, just swell. I'm very proud of you. It's quite remarkable."

…

"Now how about we discuss some…"

 _Crrrsshhhh_

"Some…oh my…"

Every visible hole on Owens' body began to leak with blood. He stood there, paralyzed. As red bubbles foamed at his lips, he started to gag and all words he tried to utter were now incoherent.

"Ychaibfba…ychaighaaa!"

Ten mumbled audibly.

 _Muuuhhhrrrr…muuuhhhrrrrr_

The doctor's head began to expand profusely. His eyeballs popped out of their socket, while his ears, his mouth, and his nose continued to leak. Now veiny and on the brink of discharge, his head finally gives in.

 _Prrrsshhhhhh!_

The headless doctor falls in front of Ten. MKUltra, for the foreseeable future, no longer existed.

 **At Hawkins Police Department**

"Wait wait wait…hold on…slow down!"

Mike stopped chattering.

"Okay, so you're saying that Hawkins Lab is up to something else? That they have another Demogorgon?"

"Yes!" Mike, El, and Will shouted together.

"Christ."

"Wait, you believe us?" Mike asked.

"Kid, after last year I'll pretty much believe anything. Maybe Reagan will win the election. Hell, maybe even that movie star Reagan is going to win the election. Hell, maybe even a TV star will become president some day." Hop chuckled at this and puffed a cigarette.

The teens ignored the last statement and blankly stared up at the chief.

"Ok, um…describe what this thing looked like, as it exactly like last year's?"

"Not exactly." Will said.

"Similar?" Hopper asked.

"Yes." Will replied.

"Then how is it different?"

"It's bigger, a lot bigger, and it has a lot more arms." Will said.

"Much bigger than the Demogorgon." Mike added.

Hopper's face turned pale. He ran to his desk and shuffled through all sorts of documents. He picked out a drawing from the pile. He held up the sheet and walked over to the group.

"This…is this what you're talking about Will?"

"Yes." he answered.

"So it was real all along…" Hopper said.

"Yeah." El said.

Hopper ran to the door.

"Powell! Callahan! Send out an orange alert! Tell everyone to stay in their houses!"

"That might not be enough." Will said.

"It's all we can do right now. This town isn't as small as you think. There's no time for an evacuation."

Callahan rushed into the office.

"Chief! Did you say an orange alert?"

"Yes!" Hopper shouted.

"But what…"

"Just do it!"

"Okay. Will, El. How do we kill this thing?"

"You can't." El said.

"But we can." Will said.

"No, absolutely not. I can't allow you...you're just kids."

"Dad.' El said.

"You're not going! Neither of you."

Hopper stared down at the three kids in an intimidating manner. El grabbed him by the waist and hugged him tightly.

"Dad, it's fine. I can do this." El said.

The chief began to tear up before dropping down to his knees, El cradled his head, he sobbed in her chest.

"I can't…I can't do this again."

"Dad."

"Please…Sa…Eleven. Don't put me through it."

"Dad, I can do this. Me and Will. Only we can stop it."

"El." Hopper said.

"I have to do this. Please."

A good minute if silence passed. Hopper wiped his tears and grabbed El's head, kissing her forehead.

"You better be home for dinner."

El smiled and turned to Mike.

"I'm going with you." he said.

"No." she replied.

"No. You have to let me go with you."

El grabbed mike by his shoulders, "Mike. I'll be home safe. Promise."

Mike looked worried but eventually complied, "Okay."

"Ok let's go." Will said

 **At Main Street**

El and Will were sitting on the curb outside Melvald's General Store. The streets, cleared due to the orange alert, were quieter than Hawkins had ever been. There was not a single person in sight.

"Hey." Will said.

"Hi." El replied.

"Was it scary? Being alone for a year?"

"No, Hop…Dad would come visit me a lot."

"That's good." Will said.

"Was it scary? In the Upside Down?" El asked.

"Yeah. It was dark and cold, and it just felt like everywhere I went, no matter how hard I tried, I couldn't get out. I don't know, it's a whole different universe, nothing seemed to make sense in there."

"Will?"

"Yeah?"

"What is gay?"

"Oh. You heard huh?"

El nodded.

"Gay is when two guys…um…like each other. A lot of people think it's weird."

"I don't."

"Thanks El."

"Do you like Greg? From school?"

Will's face turned red.

"Wha…what? Um why would you asked that?"

"Because when we're in class I always see you looking over at him, and he looks over at you, you smile at each other. That means you like each other, right?"

"I mean not always."

"Will. Friends don't…"

"Friends don't lie, yes El, I get it I'm sorry."

"So?"

"Ok, maybe I kinda like him."

El covered a smirk.

Will gave her a little shove, "Would you stop?"

"That's cool."

"Thanks."

"Will."

"Yeah?"

"I really like Mike."

"I know. I see how you look at him too. You should ask him to the Snowball."

She blushed.

"The dance?"

"Yeah." Will said. "It's next month, Christmas time, which makes it extra special. You should definitely ask him to go with you."

El turned bright red and smiled at the thought. Then her attention turned to something else, she stared down the road.

 _Muuuuhhhrrrr_

The pair sprang up and El turned toward Will, "Ready?"

"Yeah." he said nervously.

Ten emerged from the corner of an intersection, charging down the empty street. With two of his tentacles he attempts to pierce El, who goes ahead of Will in an attempt to restrain the beast.

"Stop." she mutters.

The front part of each leg then burst with red mush, as blood oozes out of the half-severed limbs, he wails in pain. The beast momentarily tumbles head-first onto the pavement, quickly getting up to find its balance on the six remaining legs.

 _Grrrrraaaaaa!_

As it continues to push towards them, El is consciously immersed in taking down the creature but quickly realizes Will is shouting her name.

"El!"

"What Will?"

"El! Your nose! It's bleeding. Both sides."

She wiped her philtrum to assess the damage. It was too much. It continued to flow and a sudden light-headedness hit her strongly. Will anticipated her fainting and caught her, slowly guiding her to the ground.

"El! El!"

Eyes closed and dazed, she could only mumble a few words.

"Will."

"Yeah?"

"Turn." she whispered in his ear.

Will looked dumbfounded that she would even suggest this.

"El. I can't. I can't."

As she lost consciousness, his doubts fell on deaf ears.

 _Muuuuhhhrrrrrr_

Ten, now a meager fifty feet from Will, stealthy charged forward. Holding El in his arms, the Byers boy carefully took off his jacket, cushioning her head on it. He then anxiously stared forward.

"Come on."

 _Muuuhhhrrrrrr!_

"Come on."

 _Muuuhhhrrrrr!_

"Come on!"

A tentacle soared through the air and plummeted down on them, only to be caught by a now shifted Will. The 5'1" scrawny "geek" had grown to a massive nine feet. His body, while resembling the Demogorgon's, had two significant differences: the blatant stature of his more accelerated size, and the head. Unlike the Demogorgon, Will got to keep his face, although it was far from humanlike. He had tiny holes for his nose and ear, razor sharp teeth graced his lipless mouth which stretched from cheek to cheek like a large smile, and large glowing red eyes.

Will bit down on the creature's limb and tore it off.

 _Gruuuuhhhhhh!_

He then leaped at Ten and struck down on the creature's head with clasped-hands. The monster stayed on the grounded much longer this time.

Partially incapacitated, the creature lost a fourth leg. Will spit out the limb and went in to take out another, before being snuck on by another tentacle, he was grabbed from behind and slammed onto the road. Landing, Will formed a huge crater in the ground. Unconscious, he slowly shrunk back into his human state, knocked out.

As Ten approached the seemingly defeated heroes, he attempts to finish the job, only to be met with bullets.

"Hey! Get the fuck away from them! Motherfucker!" Hopper yelled.

The entire police force of Hawkins and several armed townspeople, including Joyce and Jonathan Byers, opened fire.

"Get the hell away from my son!" Joyce said, unloading a shotgun.

Jonathan shouted as he unloaded a Colt Python, "Will!"

Will said nothing.

El, who laid beside Will's crater, awoke to the gunshots.

Seeing people coming to help, she thought about the other day at Hangry Hank's, how she promised herself she wouldn't let anyone get hurt on her behalf. Immediately after the notion passes her mind, she jumped to her feet and slowly walked towards Ten, who stood its ground, watching her.

"No more."

Hopper ran towards her, "El! Stop!"

With a slight wave, she shoved everyone to the ground.

"No! El!"

She was not listening.

"Don't do this."

Now she was standing just several feet from Ten, staring down at her, they made eye contact.

"Talk."

The creature uttered something unheard of but all the same incoherent to human ears.

 _Wuuhhhhrrraaaaaaa_

"Now." she said.

He agreed and let El into his head.

Now they stood in complete darkness, in the astral plane. El stood face-to-face with who seemed like a kid in his late teens, between sixteen to eighteen years old. He wore a plain white t-shirt with light-brown khakis, as did El. He had blond curly hair with blue piercing blue eyes, he was around 5'9' and had skin that seemed as smooth as an infants. He was truly a beautiful person and El was surprised by his appearance, seeing as how just a moment ago he was a twenty foot tall tentacled abomination.

"Hi." she said.

"Hey." he replied.

"Why are you doing this?"

"Because I want to, because of what they did to me."

"You're hurting a lot of my friends, good people."

"They're all the same."

"Look what they did to you, disgusting fucking humans. You look at the destruction they can do to the world and themselves and you just want to shut it all down….what's your name?"

"Eleven."

"No. What's your name?"

"I…I don't know."

"There you go."

"What's your name?"

"Ten."

El looked sad and looked down, as if deep down, she knew what he was talking about.

"Monsters, all of them. They take kids and treat them like toys in an assembly line. And you know what? At the end of the day, they're all the same, it's in their nature."

"I know you hurt, but you can't blame everyone."

"Yes I can."

"The bad men, they hurt you, I know, they hurt me too."

"Yeah."

"But there are good people. I know them. They're my friends, they're funny, nice, and they make me happy. And one of them…one of them is very special to me."

Ten looked disgusted.

"Don't implore your romantic nonsense on me."

El looked angry.

"And I can't let you hurt them."

"You're gonna try and stop me?"

"Yes."

"Ha! You know you're like me, Eleven. You don't know it but you are. There will come a day when you'll change, you'll get stronger, they'll fear you, they'll cast you out. And then…you'll want to tear this fucking world apart."

El made a fist in her right hand.

"But until that day, when you finally realize what I'm talking about, I guess I have no choice but to get you the hell out of my way."

They exited the astral plane and were now in the real world.

Two of Ten's remaining legs shot towards El. She stopped them just inches from her head, they were paralyzed in the air.

"No more."

The limbs disintegrated into ashes. Now reduced to two, Ten fell to the ground and was finally in a state of panic.

"No more."

El moved closer as something strange began to take place. Her eyes turned black and her whole body glowed light blue. Buildings around them began to break off their base and levitate in the air, cars as well. The townspeople, who now seemed miniscule in all of this, were now in awe, watching the town of Hawkins virtually lift off the ground.

"No more."

In a desperate attempt to stop her, Ten tried his last two and El disintegrated them before they even moved. Now reduced to a torso and a head, he used his telepathic abilities to say one last thing to her.

"You see what you're capable of? You're a monster, like me. And in this world, they don't accept monsters. One day, you'll understand."

El screamed as the light around her glowed brighter.

"Aaaaaahhhhhh!"

She disintegrated Ten into a pile of ash.

Buildings and cars fell back in place, her glow disappeared.

Fainting to the ground, El's adoptive father rushed over to her.

"El! Talk to me El! Please!"

"Daddy." she muttered sickly.

"Yes, sweetheart I'm here."

He embraced her and kissed her head, sobbing. Meanwhile, Joyce went to her son.

"Will!"

Will opened his eyes and whispered, "Mom?"

"Yes! Yes baby I'm here."

"I…I can explain."

"Yeah, I think unfortunately I'm kind of used to it by now. Explain later. Let's just get you home okay?"

"Okay."

As the parents escorted their kids to Hopper's car, El gave one last took that was became of Ten. Then she turned around, rested her head against Hopper, a loving smile across her face.


End file.
